Running together
by CosmicDNA
Summary: What would've happened had the Cullens not killed James back at the Ballet Studio? Could James leave Victoria and confide in a clumsy, fragile brunette? Could Bella leave Edward's cool gentleman like embrace and wander into the arms of a tracker?


Bella's deep brown eyes widened as he stared at her with dark and thirsty ones. Here she was, finally alone in the ballet studio with James, and one breath closer to death. "Edward please don't let him kill me," she thought to herself, looking up at the tall ceiling and ignoring the pain surging through her bleeding leg. Clearly it was broken, and clearly James was enjoying this; every last bit. "You like that huh, Bella?" he leaned in, whispering hard against her neck. His cool breath sent shivers down her spine as his marble skin pressed lightly against her. "Do you like this, Bella!?" James had shouted this time, squeezing her leg with one hand and holding her neck to the wall with the other. She was forced to look into his eyes as the floor-tiles dripped with scarlet.

When he noticed her face had begun to adapt a purple hue he let her go. As she gagged and grasped her throat, James chuckled lightly. He boldly checked her out, dropping his thirsty eyes and admiring every bit of her flesh that was visible. He brought the hand that had been squeezing her tattered limb up, pressing it firmly to his face, inhaling deeply. Bella's eyes narrowed with disgust at the sight of James's face covered in her own blood.

"Kill her already!" shouted an irritated voice from behind through gritted teeth. James snapped his head back to see his fire-haired lover staring at the two with angry eyes. "The brown-haired girl, Alice, will lead them to us soon and when they arrive, the blood, you, and I need to be gone. Got it?" she spat as she turned, pivoting on her brown pump and scattering off into the darkness, leaving James and Bella alone once more.

He snapped his head back to Bella, his blonde pony-tail whipping furiously to his muscular back which was covered with a white v-neck t-shirt. "I will find you again Bella Swan, count on it," he spoke in a rather calm tone and with the blink of an eye, he was gone. Bella felt an immediate horrific sensation coming from her wrist as she looked down to see the imprints of sharp teeth. Blood curdling screams escaped from her throat as the ballet studio doors busted open and in ran seven saviors. The mirror-covered walls allowed Bella too see all the different angles of her marble angel, leading the group inside. "Bella!" he screamed as she watched him run to her in the different angles, the other six running back outside.

"I knew you w…wouldn't let h…him k…kill me," she stuttered, choking on pain and blood. "Bella darling, no one will ever come close to stealing your life again, I can promise you that," Edward said looking down at her with his crimson eyes fading to black as he noticed her broken, let alone bleeding leg. His lips curled up and with a snarl he cursed under his breath. Bella's eyes widened as she cuffed the back of his head with her free hand, not used to hearing him use such language. "Edward, I'm fine," she lied. Edward looked to her with sharp eyes. "Don't lie to me Bella; you've lost so much blood…"

Bella looked down and shook her head as if he had just told her something she didn't want to hear. "I'm fine, help me up darling?" she asked. Edward looked down to her with confused eyes. He didn't understand. Bella was lying here writhing and bleeding and yet she still said she was fine.

"I don't understand you Bella Swan," Edward said with his gorgeous half-smile. His smile faded as he returned his gaze back to her leg. As he balled his hands into fists scanning his eyes over her body for anymore injuries, he spotted it… the bite. He winced, snapping his head back as Bella's body began twitching and her skin grew cold. "Carrrrlisleee," the name rolled off of Edward's tongue as he clenched his teeth together, holding back tears. Bella blinked and twitched in a mix of misery and confusion. He looked behind him and saw the other 6 had run outside to find James. "Carlisslee!" Edward shouted this time; his vampiric voice echoing through the studio; this time, when Bella blinked, as she opened her eyes the oldest Cullen appeared next to Edward staring down at her…

She shuddered, staring up at Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He could almost be where Edward had gotten his dashing looks; strong jaw-line and crimson eyes. "Did all nice vampires have crimson eyes?" Bella wondered. As she stared at the handsome 2 out of seven saviors, she caught bits and pieces of a conversation. "You have to do it Edward or she'll die!" came from one direction. Cold tears and teeth clenching came from the other. After a few seconds had passed Bella's wild blinking had stopped. Suddenly her wrist throbbed with an icy burn. Ignoring the pain, Bella continued shifting her gaze between the two. Edward's hair was a golden brown and Carlisle's was pure gold. Both faces resembled stone but…her thought process was interrupted.

Suddenly the tension in the air relaxed, as Bella knew that Jasper had to be somewhere nearby, and if Jasper was close Alice had to be close as well. Now four out of seven saviors had returned to her rescue. Without noticing, the pain from Bella's wrist had stopped. She looked down and the marks were still present, her leg was bandaged, and the floor-tiles were no longer scarlet. When she looked back up, Carlisle and Edward were nowhere to be found. Had this all been a dream? James never bit her, and the Cullens were all back at the hotel still? Bella leaned back bumping her head into the wall and winced, remembering how hard James had slammed her against it.

She looked around the room, staring in all the different mirrors and remembered her past lessons here. The hot sweaty tutus they were forced to wear, and her temples throbbing from the tightly kept bun atop her head. Her lips curled into a slight smile as Edward ran back in and gently swept her off her feet. She certainly wasn't dreaming. "I love you," smoothly crept from her lips as she stared into his once crimson, now charcoal eyes. "I love you too Bella, I really do," he responded leaning down gently and kissing her forehead. Her body shuddered from his cool kiss as she was placed in the back seat of a large vehicle. She smiled slightly, "Emmett".

Bella turned her head as much as she could and saw the familiar muscular beast. "I'm not sure if I feel safe with you behind the wheel," Bella teased as she saw his angelic lover Rosalie strapped in the seat next to him. "Pfft! I'm the safest driver these roads have ever seen!" Emmett boomed as he started off down the road, causing Bella and Rosalie to both burst out into laughing fits. "Sure Emmett, whatever you say babe," Rosalie said in her normal sarcastic tone with her lightning curls bouncing on both sides of her shoulders. She glared at Bella through the side-view mirror and Bella turned back to look out from her window. She knew it would take some time before the two of them would be considered friends.

2

Bella smiled as he trailed his fingers up her hips and underneath her maroon shirt. Biting down on her lip, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes gently. His hands were warm and soft, the exact opposite of Edward's. He grabbed hold of her hips and pulled her petite body up to his larger figure, slowly and sensually. Pulling her hair back, he leaned down and gently bit her neck. If only this was the sensation she felt when Edward performed the same actions, not that she minded his cold touch, but she had almost forgotten what a man's warm touch felt like. "Is this how he does it?" the aroused voice whispered into her ear as he bit down harder, breaking skin. Bella bucked her hips up and winced as she felt the pain from her leg. She opened her eyes widely and peered around, but the tall, tan, and muscular man wasn't on top of her. Bella blushed as she realized she was clutching the yellow sheets of the soft hotel bed. Clearing her throat she snapped out of her daze and ignored the wetness at her center. She turned to her left and noticed a piece of rolled up parchment paper on the nightstand. She picked it up and tugged at the scarlet lace that held it closed as it unraveled in her hand. She rolled her eyes at Edward's tight calligraphy. "You could've just texted me," Bella giggled to the empty room. The piece of parchment read, "Bella, you are safe here. The blood from your wound made us all grow thirsty. Don't feel bad, it was time for us to feed anyways. When you read this it'll be around 1:30. We shall be back no later than 2. I left you some old movies and a hot pizza on the counter. I love you so much, please try and rest; your dearest, Edward". Unnoticeably smiling, Bella looked up at the clock and saw that it was exactly 1:30. She blushed softly. "You are incredible Mr. Edward Cullen," she whispered as she rose to fetch the movies and pizza.

She shifted all of her weight to her healthy leg as she scanned her eyes over all the different titles that scattered the countertop. "Tale of the Rising Moon", "Moon-light Sonata", "Silver-moon", "Kissing Beneath The Moon" and "Temporarily Engaged". The last one seemed out of place, and so she chose it. She flipped open the cardboard and the scent of mozzarella cheese and cilantro marinara filled the room. "Mmm," Bella moaned as she snatched a piece up in her hungry hands. She made her way back to the bed after popping in the movie, fluffed the pillows beneath her head, propped her broken leg up, and started on her pizza. In no time, the Cullens would have returned. As Bella continued chewing on her never-ending slice, she grew dizzy. Within 30 seconds she lay unconscious in her hotel room, as music from the movie hummed in the background…

3

Once again, Bella had woken up but this time it wasn't a dream. The room wasn't bright and she certainly wasn't lying on a soft yellow bed. She yelped in pain at an excruciating sensation coming from her mouth. "Get up Swan!" yelled an angry female voice as she felt another surge of pain coming from her mouth. It took her a minute to come to, but she realized someone was furious, and hurting her. Blood poured from her swollen mouth as her vision became focused. It was Victoria. The fire-haired demon was striking Bella in the face with her fist. "What's the matter Swan? Can't fight back? Or are you just used to being down on the floor like the fragile piece of nothing you are!" Victoria shouted at Bella's limp figure. Tears from Bella's eyes mixed with Blood coming from her head and she went blind. The pain didn't stop. She brought her arm up and managed to wipe her eyes clean before the next blow. Victoria raised her brown pump in the air and sent a kick flying to Bella's face. Bella caught her foot, twisted it around, and Victoria hit the ground with a thunderous sound.

Surprised at her sudden strength, Bella tried to stand. Victoria caught hold of her broken leg and pulled with great strength. Bella's scream sounded through the spacious room and pierced Victoria's ears, causing her to drop Bella's leg and cringe. Suddenly the door was kicked open. "Edward! Help me!" Bella shouted as she was instantly swooped up into the arms of a marble figure. A masculine growl came from the being as it ran off with Bella tucked safely, and she held the figure close as tears streamed from her eyes. "I knew you'd rescue me," Bella said in a strained voice. "Shh!" the voice spat rather rudely as Bella felt a cold mist hit her. Wiping the uninvited saliva from her cheek, Bella still couldn't see well. She ran her hands along the savior's body and noticed it was rather muscular. Edward had a nice body, but not _that_ nice. She ran her hands up to the face, trailing them over rough shaved skin and a rounded jawline. Lastly she brought her hands to the beings hair and ran her fingers through it, and it wasn't familiar. There was a lot of it, and it was long and thinner than she remembered. The "person" must've seen the confused look on her face as their running slowed and soon stopped. Bella was placed back on her feet and her face was wiped clean, enabling her to view her "knight in shining armor". Only it wasn't a knight, it was a beast, with scarlet eyes and wild hair. Her eyes widened as they seem to always do as it suddenly came clear to her. This wasn't Edward, it was _James_.

4

Bella backed away from the handsome man. "L…look d…don't h…hurt me. Edward w…will find you and V…Vi…Vict," Bella couldn't even finish her sentence. With the blink of an eye James was standing closer than he ought to have been, as Bella felt the cold breath from his face as she had hours ago at the Ballet Studio. Her mouth still continued to bleed as James handed her a wet cloth. "That should clean your face a bit more although the swelling will last for some time," James spoke in a deep and rather calm voice. Bella was both mesmerized and confused at the same time. Confused because just hours ago this man wanted her dangling from his arms lifeless, and mesmerized because he was just so damn attractive. He removed his shirt and stepped closer to Bella as he pressed the shirt into her head wound. His cool abs grazed against her stomach, causing her to flinch.

"Take a picture, it'll last much longer," he chuckled at Bella as he noticed her admiring each and every tight pack of his body. She shook her head and rolled her eyes in attempt to shake the impressive image. Bella had to keep in mind that this was no man and he could at any given time, decide to rip her to shreds and have her for dinner. She also had to remember Edward, her love. With Alice around, they might be able to piece together evidence to find out what Bella is thinking and capable of doing next and she certainly didn't need to be sending them any awkward signals. Bella's eyes trailed back up James's body slowly. "Do you mind maybe…putting your shirt back on?"

"Am I making you uncomfortable Beellaaaaa?" he asked, allowing her name to roll from his tongue as he flashed his scarlet eyes. She snatched the shirt from his hand and held it to her head, glaring at him. "Cullen was right, you are as stubborn as can be," he mumbled. In a flash, Bella was just inches away from James's face with a balled fist. "You don't know Edward!" she shouted. "Is this your way of threatening me?" James asked in a slightly offended tone. In mere seconds he had her pinned to a fence. "Because I don't take well to threats!" he spat, clenching his teeth like always. He pushed his open palm into her neck as her eyes widened. "Is it bad that I find you sexiest when you're gagging and angry?" he asked with a smile. "You see because when you're angry, your heart races faster and faster", he said revealing his fangs and taking a step closer.

Bella looked down with chocolate eyes. As soon as her eyes reached the ground it began to rain. Bella winced as James swept her up in his arms again and ran off into the night with his incredible speed. Edward popped into Bella's mind and she wondered how stressed he was at the moment. Would he ever find her? Would her knight in marble armor find her and rescue her from this creature… this tall, handsome, fit creature?

4

Here they were again, running. James was tracking, but what was there to track when the tracker's found his target? Does he continue tracking? Does he ever get bored? Once you've excelled and tracked down everything, does that leave you with anything left? Bella had decided James wasn't a tracker at all… he was a runner. He'd always be running. She looked up into his dark eyes. What if… she was running too? Was she running away from Edward? No, that wasn't possible. She knew that if something happened and he was suddenly gone forever she'd never cope. But something about her didn't miss him. Something about her didn't want him to find her. Something about her wanted to remain in the arms of this beast forever. Maybe she was the beauty of the picture? No, that also wasn't possible. Bella wasn't the beauty of this situation… Edward was. But Edward wasn't here, the runner was. Bella reached her arms up and curled them around his marble neck, and tucked her head beneath his chin as he held her safe. How could someone so dangerous and hateful hold someone so tenderly and carefully? He held her as if she were an egg sitting on the edge of a tablespoon, hoping not too fall and break.

James pretended not to notice the fact that Bella now resembled a newborn in his arms. Soon his running slowed as they both knew would happen and Bella was once again placed on her feet. "I know this isn't exactly what you're used to, but it will keep us safe and warm," James said looking down. "Go inside, there is dinner in the fridge and I've gotten you some clothes, a toothbrush, and a comb. The toiletries are on the bed upstairs," he added. He looked up at the moon as the couple stood outside. "I'll be back in an hour". Bella did as he said and she went inside, immediately throwing her hair up in a lose bun and washing her hands so she could eat. James would never understand that humans need to eat more than once a day.

She thought back to earlier when James had rolled her name from his tongue in such a seductive tone. Was that an accident? James didn't have accidents, everything and anything he did was for a purpose. The thought of him rolling her name caused a slight disturbance in her jeans. Edward had never said her name the way James had. How could someone make a two syllable name sound like a chamber choir? She walked upstairs and grabbed the toiletries and headed into the restroom. She grabbed the peach colored towel off the towel rack and turned the water on, allowing the steamy water to fill the tub. As she stripped down from her clothes she was revealed once more to her leg which she had forgotten about. She carefully bent down to unravel the mystery beneath the bloody gauze as she discovered that it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. She winced in pain as she pulled off the last bit of gauze which had stuck to her flesh and settled down in the hot water.

James returned to the house and entered quickly and quietly. "Bella?" he asked and got no answer. Instantly overreacting, he ran through the house knocking everything over and flinging open every door he could to find her. After he concluded that she hadn't been upstairs he walked back down to the kitchen at a slow pace. Clenching his fists by his sides as the veins showed, his face grew red with fury. "There is no way I could've lost her… and there certainly is no way that dirty Cullen could've found her either. Just as James was about to break loose he heard a splash of water coming from the distance. He shifted his eyes quickly and saw that a nearby bathroom door was ajar. He rose quietly and crept closer to the opened door. He heard another splash and crept closer…

Suddenly he kicked the door open and there she was. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he looked over her quickly, noting that she was all in one piece. His dark eyes grew lighter as he looked back to Bella once more. She was naked… and wet. James had never seen such a sight. Sure he had seen Victoria naked before but this was different. Bella's body was dainty and fragile. He could very easily run over, ravish, and kill her if he wanted too, but he didn't. Hours ago he would have loved too, but things had changed in such a short amount of time.

Bella layed there in the water, with earphones in. "You would be listening to music while bathing," James chuckled at the oblivious figure. His eyes traveled down her body. Her skin was pale like his, but warm. Suds covered her buds. Her stomach was beautiful and one hip stuck out from the water so elegantly. The rest of her body was hidden. He watched as she breathed, her chest rising and falling as his once did. He brought his hand up and placed it where a heart should've been. Bella yawned and turned her head slightly, opening her eyes. "JAMES!" she shouted, startled. She quickly brought her hands up and covered her buds. He felt bad for watching but what man wouldn't have? Bella was beautiful to him. An angel carved from flesh instead of stone. Who ever thought something so magnificent could also be so easily destroyed? Victoria was beautiful, and she couldn't bleed. Her face would never break out and her hair would never turn white and fall like wintery leaves. But at the same time, Bella would never crack. Her eyes would always be chocolate brown and they would never resemble the one thing that drove vampires insane. She would never live to kill, which he both envied and adored. As he watched her watch him from the tub, he concluded both humans and vampires have a pros and cons list.

Bella's cheeks became rosy as her eyes traveled down James's body and found another part of him had been happy to see her. It pressed tightly against the denim that held him back. "James… I really need to get out," Bella stated as her eyes traveled back to his. "As you wish," he cooed as he left the bathroom slower than he usually left, when leaving her alone. He heard her rise from the water as he sat at the end of the stairs. She wrapped the peach towel around her pale body and reached up ripping at the elastic band, setting her chestnut hair wild as it was before. As she entered silently into the living room James watched from the stairs. He watched her beautiful steps and smiled to himself, feeling unashamed of his bulge.

With lightning speed he stood before her with hunger darkening his eyes. Bella gasped as she noticed every part of him was erect… every single part.  
_gasp.  
Will I run from him?  
Will he run from me?  
Will we run together?  
What about Edward?  
Surely his heart will break, well theoretically speaking…  
I can't  
Oh God he's staring at me…  
With those eyes I can't deny!  
Oh Edward darling… please forgive me…_

She crashed her lips roughly against James's. He winced and pulled away. "Bella, you'll bruise yourself. Allow me," he chuckled and he leaned in and crashed his lips to hers. He smiled as he heard her heart beat racing. It simply annoyed her but to James it sounded like the most erotic music pleasuring his ears, and other parts…

He slid his hand up Bella's back indirectly forcing her to arch her back and press her body tighter against his. A growl rumbled deep within his chest as he felt her buds hardening against his chest. Bringing his hands down quickly from her back, he wrapped both around the sides of her thighs, pulled her up, and slammed her against the wall violently. He ripped off her nightgown revealing her dainty and still growing figure, and before he ravished her he leaned in slowly; whispering something into her ear.

"We'll run together…"


End file.
